12 reasons to celebrate 2011: + 180,000 #protected areas now cover over 12% of the world’s land area! #conservation

More than 180,000 protected areas—national parks, nature reserves and so on—now cover over 12% of the world’s land area and 7.2% of coastal waters. They play an important role in reducing carbon emissions and helping people adapt to the impacts of climate change. These are the findings of a newly-published paper in the journal Solutions . Protected areas conserve natural ecosystems such as forests, wetlands, mangroves and grasslands contributing to the two main responses to climate change: mitigation through carbon capture and storage, and adaptation such as protection against extreme weather and provision of clean water. Did you know? An estimated 20% of GHG emissions come from deforestation and other forms of land use change. At least 15% of the world’s terrestrial carbon stock is stored in protected areas globally. In the Russian Federation the protection of 1.63 millio...